Aeolus Truck & Driver News

A milestone at Mills-Tui has seen the Rotorua manufacturer deliver its 50th Hino 500 Series water tanker to Fire & Emergency New Zealand (FENZ).

The specialist trucks are built to the FENZ 4x2 Medium Water Tanker specification and are deployed throughout New Zealand.

“Fifty is a bit of a milestone for us,” says Mills-Tui Managing Director Dean Purves.

“We won the tender and started in 2018, turning them out at the rate of about 10 per year since then – although Covid and some supply issues did slow things down a bit for a while.

“Hino look after the cab-chassis and all of the wiring and we do the body build and the equipment fit out,” Dean say...

There’s been an early-February milestone at the Te Ara o Te Ata – Mt Messenger Bypass project in North Taranaki.

Work has now begun on the tunnel which is an important part of the $280m Bypass project, contributing to a much more resilient stretch of State Highway 3.

A 110-tonne road header machine is being used to excavate the project’s 235-metre tunnel.

Road headers have boom-mounted telescopic cutting heads, making them ideal for diverse geological conditions. A shovel plate at the front of the road header collects the excavated rock and soil, which is then conveyed via a belt to dump trucks at the back of the machine.  

NZ Transport A...

Volvo Trucks is now offering the premium efficiency of its new flagship FH Aero models, with order books open for the New Zealand market.

Since debuting in Europe in early 2024, the FH Aero range has been impressing media and customers alike with its on-road refinement and energy efficiency. European testing has shown efficiency improvements of up to 5%.

The specifics of the model range for New Zealand will see the FH Aero available with a choice of 13-litre and 17-litre Euro 6 powerplants as well as Volvo’s heavy duty electric driveline.

Operational results show that the ultimate fuel-saver will be the FH Aero with I-Save. This 13-litre turbo compou...

The transport industry has been an attentive audience for leading New Zealand economist Cam Bagrie on multiple occasions, and always appreciative of his blunt economic assessments and overview of local and world issues.

Now Bagrie is set to play a lead role in the direction of Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand following his appointment as an Independent Director and Chair. The first meeting of the newly elected Board held in late-October confirmed Bagrie’s new position as swell as key plans for 2025.

Bagrie is currently an Independent Chair of the governance committee of the NZ Apple and Pear Inc. Board, and he is also a Board member of Life Educati...

There’s a new bonneted American truck launching in New Zealand with the first International HX 520 model landing in time for a mid-November product expo hosted by Tauranga-based Intertruck Distributors.

The HX is a new product for Intertruck, arriving at the same time as local production of the cabover International 9870 comes to an end after a decade – with the last example being handed over to Stephenson Transport as part of the November 15 expo activities.

Moving forward the local International line-up will comprise the locally built RH models and the completely built up (CBU) HX 520.

Intertruck managing director and dealer principal Comer Board ...